Obe is a student in studying commercial aviation, not unlike the other Obi you all know and love. Unlike Obi though, Obe is real. He’s married, spends his free time playing soccer and watching movies, and a little over 5 weeks ago became a really supportive member of the Bony to Beastly community. He’s kicking some serious ectomorph ass, but isn’t even doing anything all that crazy to get his results. He’s following the plan, working out for an hour three times a week, eating well and making sure he has his calories in before going to bed. And he gained 4 pounds of muscle a week 5 weeks in a row. This just goes to show what proper training and nutrition can do, and that our potential for growth, hardgainer or not, is a hell of a lot greater than what most of us assume.

A little over five weeks ago Obe joined the program:

“Whats up everyone! My name is Obe and I’m a student. I’m 5’11 and currently weigh 135. I’m freaking stoked to be part of this program as I’ve always been skinny. The most I’ve ever weighed is 140. I hope to be at 150-160 and be healthy as well as faster and stronger.”

Obe posted his before photos, read through the eBook, and started eating and training. He also started asking other members that were doing well how they were doing it, which resulted in Jeff’s great answer. Obe took Jeff’s advice to heart and ate like a champ.

This is where the anti-secret comes in. When putting Bony to Beastly together Jared, Marco and I started reading a lot about habit change, lifestyle change, and how to make new habits stick. A big part of making a transformation isn’t simply knowing the science and details, but knowing how to incorporate the plan into your current lifestyle and stick with it. Some approaches are better than others, but chances are that even just consistently trying will move you closer to your goals. The problem is that staying motivated and consistent is easier said than done—lots of people make excuses and give up before seeing any lasting results. Obe came into the community, saw that other lifetime ectomorphs were having success, trusted that he could do the same and whipped out four pounds of muscle in his first week. Encouraged by that success he started adding in new muscle-building habits week by week. 5 weeks later he had accomplished his 5 month goal.

One great book on lifestyle change, Switch, recommends studying the “bright spots”, seeing what they’re doing, and then trying to replicate that success among the others. The cool thing about Obe is that he’s just doing what’s recommended. He isn’t buying fancy supplements, he isn’t adding in extra exercises to the program or spending all his time at the gym, he isn’t totally changing his lifestyle, and as a result he isn’t burning out or messing up the recipe. He’s doing what he’s supposed to and he’s spending the rest of his time studying, flying planes, and watching movies with his wife. He changed his life in the ways he needed to in order to grow, and he keeps doing the things that he loves with the rest of his time. Marco just wrote a really great article on that, here.

We’ve found this with a couple of other members as well. Sometimes the busiest people have the best results, because it prevents them from going overboard and burning out. The truth is that building muscle is achievable with any lifestyle if you a) know how to do it, and b) slowly turn your skinny-boy habits into muscle-building ones. Take Albert—a young physician paying his dues in the workplace and working 6 days a week for 14+ hours straight. He snacks on the healthier food available at his work when he has a few free minutes, hits the gym efficiently three times a week, makes sure he’s gotten in enough calories before going to bed, orders his supplements online to save time and money, and is up 15 pounds in 3 weeks. This isn’t about going “hard”, living and dying in the gym, or even about being nitpicky—this about understanding the fundamentals of muscle growth, finding a good plan, and being efficient.

The secret to growing like a beast is intelligent consistency, not obsession. If what you’re doing right now isn’t working, don’t do more of it—find a better plan. If your current job is earning you $0/hour the solution isn’t to work more hours, the solution is to find a job that pays better. Building muscle is the same. No matter how much of a hardgainer skinny-boy ectomorph you are, and no matter how busy your life is, growing isn’t unachievable.

Obe, last week:

“Started week 5 today. At this point I have to buy all new pairs of pants, all my pairs tight and can no longer stretch in them, even ripped a pair last week! I know it sounds dumb but it’s a sick feeling! Below are my results, couldn’t be more proud. As you can see I did not go up in waist size this time. What I did was not go over the calories and match as closely as I could and ate a lot more greens this week. Specifically beets, avocados & spinach. I’m certain that had something to do with my waist staying the same.”

He’s right. The phytonutrients in spinach, broccoli, kale and a few other super-vegetables help muscle growth, increase healthy hormone production, reduce estrogen production, and minimize fat storage. Avocados are an incredible source of monounsaturated fats, which are also fantastic for healthy hormone production. It’s also interesting to see that Obe, who is clearly building bigger and badasser abs with every week, is being proactive and making sure to eat a healthy diet. Every week he’s improving on his habits and gradually turning himself into a healthy muscle-building and fat-resistant machine. No bulking and cutting necessary. He’s truly embodying the beastly mentality, and all those little details that most people skip over are almost certainly the reason why he’s up an astonishing 20 pounds of muscle in just 5 weeks. He mastered the fundamentals of the program quickly and now week by week he’s seeing what he can do to subtly improve his results, and he slowly shifts his lifestyle to incorporate those changes. Changing habit by habit, starting with the most important ones, is allowing Obe to maintain steady but incredibly impressive results week by week.

Last night Obe finished the first phase (there are 4 in total), posted his progress photos and updated his measurements:

“Definitely being strict with the nutrition. When I read the book it mentioned we should expect growth to slow down as the weeks pass by, so I go a bit over the calories required every day to make sure I keep up with a big gain every week. I try to have an excess of about 200 calories over my daily intake calculation. I have at least one full avocado a day, sometimes 2. I just switched from soy protein to whey but don’t notice any difference. I will start the leaning program to reduce my waist hopefully 🙂 I really want to sculpt the “V” look”

Obe is trying to build a V shape, and is a little concerned with his growing waist size. The crazy thing is that he’s building such huge amounts of muscle in his back, obliques, and abs that his waist measurements are actually going up by quite a bit. We can always customize his plan a bit if that ever becomes an issue. As far as the V shape goes though, well, he’s clearly kicking ass. You can barely even tell that he was once an ectomorph who struggled to put on even a couple pounds. His face even looks fuller and healthier. And he tells us that he now enjoys strutting around shirtless in front of his wife. How does his wife like it? She’s excited to go shopping and help him pick out new pants ahaha.

Now, after all this talk about not being obsessive, Future Islands is back in Toronto so it’s time to put on my dancing shoes and have a few beers!

—wait a second Shane! that can’t be all of it… can it?! All he does is follow the program?! Where’s Obe’s secret?! Come on, come clean—he’s on ‘roids, right?

Hey! I didn’t know about the payment plan! I was wanting to try this program but have been short on money as well (you guessed it; student). If I could get that info, that’d be amazing! So far I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about it, so I’d love to give it a try.

Shane Duquetteon July 30, 2013 at 10:12 am

Right on Andrew, I’ll shoot you an email.

Nolanon May 21, 2014 at 4:55 pm

Shane, I have to say I’m in this same category. Do you mind passing one of those emails along?

Shane Duquetteon May 22, 2014 at 3:41 pm

For sure! I’ll shoot you an email now 🙂

noanon May 11, 2016 at 8:39 pm

Could you please send me an email aswell regarding the payment plan?

Jared Polowickon May 13, 2016 at 10:00 pm

Hey Noan,

We got your email, and we sent the details. We hope you decide to join us!

Mike figueroaon September 26, 2012 at 5:47 am

I was wondering if i could get details on the payment plan as well Shane, thanks!

hey guys! this looks freakin amazing! Only problem is that i’m a chick! lol. I’m not trying to get all ripped and become the chick from terminator. Just dying to gain weight. i’m 5’7 and 95lbs. I used to blame it on teenage hormones but ….seeing as i’m 30 now, I figured my only hope was waiting for the metabolism to crap out. If i try this would it work as well to remove some training and just get plumper? (yes i said plumper) or would i need to go balls to the wall and pick bones or muscle? thanks!!!

You would come out looking pretty rad … in a womanly kind of way. Our program is only for men though, as we’ve got plenty of guys posting private before/after shots. We keep all that tush hush hush so they can wow you ladies when they roll out their buns to the beach.

We tested it out on a woman though, and after she did an absolutely unbelievably amazing job of it, we decided to beta test a strength training and weight gain program for naturally thin women:

Hey Jonny, it’s not common, but definitely possible! I’ve gained 20 pounds in 5 weeks back when I was starting out (newbie gains) or recovering lost muscle (after recovering from having my wisdom teeth taken out). Jared gained 30 pounds in a little over 30 days (including the 8 from creatine). We’ve had a couple other members pull out similar numbers, too.

HAHAHA 100% fucking bullshit. Show me some proof it was 5 weeks, otherwise you can stick this article up your ass. I gained 100 pounds of pure muscle and lost 100 pounds of fat at the same time in 7 days and won mr. Olympia afterwards.

Why aren’t you all heavy and muscular if it’s that easy? In your another article you wrote that every man wants to be big, it’s in our genes. It would be more reasonable to have at least one big man on your team haha. Sad.

Would your program work for someone who was once skinny, but now not so much? I work out about 8 times a week, mostly doing P90x, so i have some muscles, but i find i dont gain enough. I’m also struggling to get rid of my midsection, which has been a problem since university. I’m 5’7″, 161 lbs, and 39 years old.

Solid strength training and dieting works for everyone, but our program really is geared at ectomorphs. Now, some ectomorphs hold onto fat more easily than others, and skinny fat guys do just great on our program. So we’re a great fit for skinny and skinny-fat guys.

At 5’7 and 161 it’s hard to say. Why don’t you email me a photo at us@bonytobeastly.com and we can see what’s up 🙂

Gaining 20+ pounds in a year as a beginner is very very achievable for pretty much everyone, given proper training and nutrition. In fact, I would be very surprised if a skinny guy couldn’t gain 20+ pounds within just a few months 🙂

Hi Shane, firstly great site, lots of good quality info and inspiring stories. Having been inspired I’m now looking to join in and was wondering if I could get the details for your payment plan? Can’t wait to get started and get beastly before my summer holidays!! Keep up the good work, cheers. Tom

Hi Shane, For all the naysayers and haters, I think you owe it to them and other subscribers to clarify that many ecto’s are seriously underweight, so many of your subscribers and probably you, gained mass just to get to the weight that you ought to be, then you can use the normal calculations of weight gain going forward. I think it’s not beyond reason, with the right diet and exercise for a hard gainer to gain 20 pounds in a year FROM the weight that they ought to naturally be at. If they are also 20 pounds underweight, then a 40 pound gain isn’t out of the question. There are several web sites that discuss (in great detail) the amount of weight a person can gain, and what their potential could be – I think this would be a great addition to your website. I was slightly underweight when I bought the e-book. Since then, I’ve been eating like a horse and doing just dead lifts (with a hex bar), chins, dips, dumbell shoulder presses… twice a week. I’ve gained 15 pounds in just a couple of months! My bodyfat has increased, from around 10% to 13.5% too, but I can still see my abs.

That’s a really good point, David. You’re very correct – continuing to gain at a pace like this wouldn’t be sustainable. You’d soon need to start making more “normal” progress of maybe a pound per week, then half a pound, then a pound per month, etc. Some very advanced guys are thrilled to gain a couple lean pounds per year.

Then you’ve got situations like ours. I saw Jared gain 33 pounds in just a few weeks by combining 8 or so pounds of creatine gains, a bunch of new muscle, more contents in his intestines, and more glycogen storage. When you’re a beginner and you’re very skinny the gains you can make are pretty remarkable. In the few months after that he gained “just” another dozen pounds – a much much slower but still very rapid pace. He’s just begun bulking again and it’s taken him a good few months to put on a dozen or so more pounds.

We see the same thing in our program. It’s common for guys to gain 5-20 pounds in the first five weeks, with most guys gaining around 10. In the second five weeks it’s common to see guys gain 5-10 pounds. In the third period of five weeks more like 3-5 pounds. Etc. Over the course of the program this will add up to 20-30 pounds … but the biggest gains come the quickest.

I think it’s also important to keep in mind that there are exceptions to the calculations you see. I emailed Casey Butts, author of “Your Genetic Potential” (one of the most respected books about this stuff), a while back wondering how I’d managed to get more muscular arms (my weakest point) than his book said were physically possible for a guy with wrists as narrow as mine. He said that because I was SO ectomorphic … I fell outside of his calculations and that my potential was actually much higher.

As a vegetarian you actually wouldn’t need to modify the program at all, since we don’t really recommend strict one-size-fits-all meal plans in the first place. We explain the fundamentals so you can build an approach to nutrition that suits your schedule/preferences/values, then provide a ton of examples so that you aren’t left wondering how it all comes together, and then coach in person to fill in any gaps / answer any personal questions.

Anyone telling you it’s impossible to build muscle as a vegetarian is simply wrong. Frankly, it’s hardly even more challenging, what with all the plant and dairy protein sources out there and how accommodating grocery stores and restaurants are becoming. (Vegan is a little trickier, but still very very doable.) It’s even easier as a skinny guy, because we get to consume so many calories. The one thing with plant-based sources of protein is that they’re high in calories from carbs (legumes, grains, etc) and fats (seeds, nuts, edamame). For most people that sucks… but for the 3% of people trying to build muscle and gain weight—us skinny ectomorphs—those extra calories are a blessing!

We’ve got lots of vegetarian members and lots of vegetarian recipes too, and you’d fit right in 🙂

(We even covered the vegetarian/vegan question in our FAQ, since we get asked the question so often!)

Hey, this is brilliantly mind-boggling, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers. I’m a 6 foot 3 17 year old weighing in at a startling 137 pounds and this program has definitely grasped my attention. I am on the fence about the payments and how steadfast you have to remain with nutrition and gym membership. If those payment plans are still accessible, I’d be more than grateful to get some more info on that. Thanks!

Hey there, I’m really excited about trying this program out. You guys seem to really know what you are talking about, and I can identify with how you were before you started this. Could you send me information about the payment plan please?

Hey guys, I’ve been checking in on the website a lot lately. All the articles and content is great. I’m really keen to sign up to the program and give it a go, but I’m in the same boat as far as money goes. If you could offer any kind of payment plan I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for letting us know. It should be instant. Gmail will automatically put any email with an unsubscribe link into the ‘Promotions’ category so it could be in there. But I emailed you the chapter and the payment plan info anyways 🙂

For a good couple months now I’ve been nearly obsessed with the idea of adopting your program, after pretty much breaking down with frustration over my weight and not being able to find a solution. Been a long time coming, but now I’ve finally hit a wall and need to conquer it. What’s most frustrating is I do actually have the appetite of a beast (and eating right, so that’s covered), but the physique of Slenderman (6’4 and 135-140 lbs, not a good ratio). Even my friends are astonished by the amount of food I cram in with ease; I’ve even completed eating challenges and gotten my name up next to pro bodybuilders – and I’m hungry pretty much every waking hour. You can imagine the feeling when a person takes a glance at my appearance and tells me to “eat something”. Thankfully I haven’t had a violent outburst yet. My mind has even lead me to the (hopefully) false suspicion of possibly having an illness of some sort which eats at any gain I possibly make, but it’s really my metabolism that’s a big factor there. And the fact that my work-out habits are so minimal. Weight-wise the “best” I’ve ever been was in my teens at 189,6 lbs, but man, I was the epitome of skinnyfat. Seeing pictures of myself from that time period just plain disgust me. Since then my diet has gradually become much better all around and I’ve leaned down so much I now have actual muscle definition, on the little I have in me. But it’s far from what I aspire to be.

After gaining knowledge of my body type (I fit every aspect of the ecto criteria), I’ve followed with taking in all and every bit of info you guys have put up here (or anyone, anywhere for that matter), but haven’t had that extra cash yet to actually get into the action.

But today I started looking for a payment plan option, and I’ll be damned – it exists! I was only going to ask for it in a short sentence, but somehow this comment escalated into my life’s story. Oops. Maybe I just needed to get that out.

So I’d appreciate if you shot my bony ass an email regarding the plan as well. Thanks!

Ahahaha you’ve not only stumbled upon a blog written by skinny guys for skinny guys… but also perhaps written by verbose guys for verbose guys 😛

Everything you said is about as relevant as can be though, and this is the perfect place to talk about this kind of thing. We can definitely relate to your struggles, as you probably already know. We’ve all broken down in frustration, failed, given up, broken down again, tried again, failed again, etc. Knowing first hand how hard that can be is why we decided to make this program in the first place. To help skinny guys finally break that cycle once and for all.

Reading your story, I’m pretty jealous of your stomach! Oh man, being able to win an eating competition is the ectomorph dream!! I’m lucky if I can eat a bigger dinner than my 5’3 girlfriend. Marco is a bit like you though. I’m impressed by his stomach. I doubt he could win an eating competition, but Jared and I watch him eat in awe. If we get you on a good muscle-building program I think we can harness that digestive power and get you growing pretty damn well!

Hah, whoa. Realized a little later now how my calculations were a bit off there. My current weight is 183.7 lbs, not 140 or so like I posted. I’m using a converter since in Finland we measure in kilos, and something went wrong. Obviously still not the ideal weight, but I’m doing better than what I might’ve had you thinking!

Hi there, Im sick and tired of being skinny. You all know what its like to look bad in simple tshirt, right? Im 6′ 1″ 191lbs so my weight isnt that low, because of my pretty good legs, butt and little belly (not big issue), but having 3,2ft chest,13,4″ arms and so narrow shoulders that my head looks like a baloon is a nightmare. I cant afford whole price as its a half of my monthly earnings, but if you could send me payment plan it could be great.

I definitely know what you mean. I had a brutal time buying clothes as a skinny guy. One of the biggest changes I noticed when I started building muscle was fitting into clothing better—especially the really simple stuff. Jared was reading the other day that suits were designed for the cushy upper class. They broaden the shoulders and taper at the waist, giving even a totally sedentary skinny-fat guy a more athletic/masculine silhouette. However simple clothes like t-shirts offer none of that. If you want to look like a badass in a t-shirt you need to be a pretty fit and healthy looking dude.